Why Staples Is the Superior Stock

Don’t be fooled by the recent near-100% moves in Office Depot and Office Max, Cramer said during Tuesday’s Stop Trading!. These stocks are pure speculation, and they’re not even good speculation at that.

Office Max and Office Depot are both under-$10 names that soared 92% and 98%, respectively, over the past week, but the businesses behind these names don’t measure up to the real leader in this space, Staples.

At least that’s how Cramer sees it. Staples beats the two Offices on every key metric: operating margins, same-store sales, number of outlets, expected growth of these outlets – you name it.

Meanwhile, Staples is doing the acquiring, picking up Corporate Express to boost international growth, and, as we said, opening more stores within the U.S. at a faster rate, and with greater efficiency, than its competitors.

So if you’re thinking of buying a stock in this business, Cramer thinks it should be Staples.